Alabama, Mississippi, lousy places to live, according to Gallup survey

A woman walks through downtown Birmingham, Ala. on Oct. 19, 2004. A new survey by Gallup places Alabama as one of the worst states to live in in the next five years, due primarily to more smokers and obese people. (Birmingham News/ Jacquelyn Martin)

Alabama and Mississippi are among the 10 worst states to live in in the next five years, according to a new Gallup poll.

In a new survey based on 13 factors, including clean water, work environment, economy, obesity rates, job prospects, number of trips to the doctor, safe places to exercise and number of smokers, Gallup determined that Mississippi was the No. 2 worst state to live in, while Florida was No. 6 and Alabama was No. 7.

The research and consulting company said Utah was the top state to live in, while West Virginia was the worst. Rounding out the bottom 10 were Kentucky, Nevada, Arkansas, Louisiana, Ohio and Delaware.

Southern states ranked ranked poorly on quality of life issues because more smokers and obese people reportedly reside in the region, according to the Gallup poll.

Residents of Mississippi were last in the country for full-time employment, annual visits to the dentist and having a supervisor that treats you like a partner rather than a boss, but was the top state for anticipated improvement of life in the next five years.

The poll's results were based on the answers from more than 530,000 interviews with U.S. adults from Jan. 2, 2011, through June 30 of this year.